The ONS said one-in 80 people in England had the virus last week. The numbers were one-in 85 in Wales, one-in 75 in Northern Ireland and one-in 150 people in Scotland – an indication the lockdown restrictions are working.

The ONS estimates that there were 151,500 fewer people with Covid-19 across the UK last week, down from a total of 846,900 people the week before. The data does not include those staying in hospitals or care homes.

The weekly survey also found that the rate of confirmed Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital decreased to 19 per 100,000 people, almost half the rate seen in mid-January.

Separate data released Friday and based on swab tests taken last week, showed that the UK’s R number – the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to – was at 0.8.

“We are soon to be in the same place we were in early June, with the advantage of having a large proportion of the population vaccinated, which could mean good news in terms of lifting some restrictions sooner rather than later,” said Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London.

The ONS data is based on a survey of nearly 662,000 coronavirus tests from people in the past six weeks, whether they had symptoms or not.